Cinco de Mayo Recipes: Turkey Cilantro Burgers with Tomatillo Sauce
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
So, I was born in a Virginia…rural Virginia…where fried chicken, corn on the cob and biscuits rule. Sweet tea…it was my equivalent to milk/juice most kids drink. I didn’t have sushi or a million other “ethnic” foods until I was well into my teens. There were definitely no Cinco de Mayo recipes made in our house growing up either!
BUT, I am convinced my mother must have lived in Texas or Mexico for some portion of her pregnancy because my love of Tex-Mex and Mexican food runs deeps. Like…I’ll drive an hour each way in traffic to get to my favorite Mexican restaurant without so much as a complaint. Once I started to fall in love with cooking, it is all Tex-Mex…all.the.time. Hence the reason, I felt the need to take a traditional “American” dish and take it South {and a little West}.
What You’ll Need:
– 1 lb ground turkey (go with something like 85% because this is a burger so you don’t want it to dry out)
– 1 large jalapeno, minced
– 2 cloves garlic, minced
– 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
– 2 scallions, finely chopped
– 2 tsp cumin
– 1 tsp Mexican oregano
– 1 tsp onion powder
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
– hamburger buns
– Pepperjack cheese (optional)
– tomatillo dressing (recipe below)
Let’s Make Some Burgers:
1) In a large bowl, combine turkey through white pepper and mix well {go ahead…use your hands}.
2) Form the mixture into 4-5 medium sized burgers. {Tip: Press your thumb in the middle to keep them from swelling when they cook.}
3) Heat your grill to medium-high heat. Coat grates with a little bit of high heat cooking spray. Add burgers and cook about 6-7 minutes on both sides or until cooked through {not a good idea to go medium on a turkey burger}.
{Full disclosure: I actually cooked mine in a grill pan because my grill looked like this the day I was making them:
4) With about 1 minute left of cooking time, add the cheese {if using} to give it plenty of time to melt! If not using cheese, just remove from the grill.
Then, place on the bun and top with the tomatillo dressing.
Now, you can’t make this burger without the recipe for the Tomatillo dressing so here it is 🙂
What You’ll Need:
– 1/2 cup buttermilk
– 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
– 1 small jalapeno
– 1/3 cup cilantro
– 1 tomatillo, husk removed and quartered
– 2 garlic cloves
– juice of 1 lime
– 1/2 tsp cumin
– 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
Let’s Make It:
1) Throw all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and turn it on. Run the blender until fully combined and all the items are blended well.
What are your favorite Cinco de Mayo recipes (it is totally OK to say this one…wink, wink)? Do you make sure you serve something special on the day or just make whatever comes to your mind?
**This idea for this recipe was insprired by this appetizer recipe from the wonderful Gina.**
You can find a list of the awesome parties I link up to by visiting here.
I adore cilantro! It is one of those flavors that you either love or hate and I am on the loving side! Your burgers sound amazing!
Thanks, Tonia! Cilantro is definitely one of those items that people tend to have a strong opinion about. The other ingredients in this do tempter the strength of the cilantro a bit 🙂
Thanks so much for visiting!
What a fantastic idea, that tomatillo sauce looks incredible! Great job, perfect cinco de mayo burger 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Thanks! I was really looking for something that was easy to make and would be a crowd pleaser for the upcoming holiday.
Thanks so much for visiting!
Oh my word, this sound totally unreal. I will definitely make this one. Yummmmmmmmmy. Thanks so much for the recipe and for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty
Thanks! This one is a quick and easy recipe but it has so much flavor. Thanks so much for coming by.
Thanks! Be sure to come back and let me know what you think once you make it! I love getting feedback.
this looks delicious. I look forward to trying it. I’m always out for new burger recipes since I don’t like buying the premade ones and we only eat non processed food.. Thanks for sharing. Saw you on the One Project at a Time blog where I posted.. Come check it out 🙂 look forward to browsing your blog some more..
These are really easy to make and definitely turn out better than the store bought pre-made ones. I love changing up burgers by adding in new ingredients. Thanks for visiting today…I hope to see you back here soon!
I typically don’t like the over powering taste of cilantro, but this turkey burger looks really super delicious! Especially grilled up!
YUM YUM YUM!
I’m gonna try this. Thanks so much for sharing!
We usually don’t cook anything special for Cinco De Mayo, but we will be doing a craft! Does that count?
You know what is funny: I am typically a “only just a little” cilantro girl as well. BUT, the rest of the ingredients + cooking this definitely tones down the cilantro taste. Plus, the dressing/sauce is nice and bright so it really provides a lot of non-cilantro flavor. You could even go as far as to do parsley in place of cilantro for the dressing 🙂
These sound and look very good! I don’t eat red meat or pork so I am always looking for new turkey burger ideas!
Oh, this looks delish! (I also am mesmerized by your lovely chevron tablecloth! Haha! ) We love turkey burgers & I love the idea of jazzing them up for Cinco de Mayo! 🙂
YUM! Hopping over from Somewhat Simple link party
Wow, this sounds so good! I’m with you too on the Tex-Mex food. I could eat it all the time. Pinning the recipe; thanks for sharing!
I am loving the sound of that dressing for on the burgers! It looks great!!!
The dressing really brings the burgers to life! Give it a try 🙂
This burger looks amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your yummy recipe!
Thanks so much! They are definitely a hit in our house.
Love the sound of this burger. Turkey burgers can be so tough. Your sauce is outrageous. I can’t wait to try it.
You do have to be really careful with turkey burgers to keep them from drying out. I find that going against the urge to use the traditional super low fat (99%) ground turkey really helps. It is still healthier than a beef burger but it won’t turn to cardboard.
Thanks for visiting!
Oh sounds soooooo good. Thanks for the recipe. Thanks also for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty
Thanks! They are so easy to make but packed with flavor.
Oh my gosh, these sound delicious! I love Mexican food too; in fact, I had to figure out how to make my favorite chicken enchiladas when I came back from Texas in March. Can’t wait to feature these in tomorrow’s issue of Inspire Me Wednesday!
Thanks! We are huge Mexican {Tex-Mex or any fusion} fans so I love adding those flavors into our meals.
Thanks so much for the feature today.
This looks so seriously good! I’m definitely going to make this. Thank you for sharing. You will be one of the features tomorrow at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Pop on in and grab a feature button for your blog. Hope to see your prettiness again at the bash. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thanks so much for featuring my turkey burgers! I can’t wait to hear what you think after you make it.